Ninjutsu Training
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:34 am
by Mendokuse
Katsumi woke up one morning to a dreary, overcast gray sky. She had been looking forward to a brisk walk and a bit of physical training, as it had been pretty rainy lately and she hadn't had many opportunities to throw kunai or shuriken. She’d heard predictions of warm weather, but fate was against her this time. Sighing sullenly, Katsumi dragged herself out of bed and busied herself with chores. She had a dull, pounding headache from the chilly damp air and the awful monotone colors of the sky and the last thing she wanted to do at the moment was study, although she knew that if she couldn’t do the training she’d planned, she’d have to do some form of training. She was a Genin now, and that’s what most of her life was: Training. Not that she minded. It felt good to have goals and reach them; when she was younger, her life was just so many years of getting to this point. Now that she’d arrived she felt more in control of her time; she was busy, of course, but by her own desire to improve.
Katsumi ate breakfast with her mother and father. Her siblings were nowhere to be found, and she took the time to appreciate having a big family. She knew people whose parents had been killed… she couldn’t imagine such a thing. She looked at her dad, and he stole a glance at her, smiling quietly as he chewed. She smiled back sweetly, and she meant it. Finishing her meal, Katsumi dabbed her lips with a napkin. “Thank you,” she told her parents as she gathered her dishes. “For everything.” The three of them smiled again, understanding flashing brightly in their intelligent eyes. Words were nice sometimes, she thought to herself as she walked to the kitchen, but if you’re truly close with someone, you don’t need to say very much. That’s how she was with her parents now. Everyone in this specific Nara household was busy, independent, and proud; she knew that she’d inherited the last two qualities from her mother and father, that was certain. Her mother was a kind, responsible, and ambitious woman, and her father was stubborn, charming, and loyal. She truly felt like the daughter of her parents and it made her happy. Today, despite the weather, she felt a sense of connection. She was conscious of the way her chakra felt within its circulatory system; vital, alive, and powerful.
“Today is a good day for Ninjutsu,” she thought to herself as she returned to her room.
“I guess I should brush up on my basic Jutsu. Honestly, I haven’t even used Bunshin since I graduated…The few encounters I’ve had, I relied almost solely on my Kage Mane. I should be more versatile…anyway, I don’t want to be on a mission and forget the hand seals or anything, so I’m just going to start from the beginning and work my way forward.”
Katsumi pulled a textbook from the tall wooden shelf by her study desk and opened it to the index. “Alright…I’ll start with this, and once I’ve regained my familiarity with it, I’ll move on to this…”
A few minutes later, after gathering her wits and coming up with a clear, concise plan of action for her afternoon, Katsumi moved her bed against a wall and lifted gently, pushing it into the wall and clearing a large space in her room, a good twenty by fifteen feet where she could practice.
“Bunshin no Jutsu!” Katsumi completed the handseals and two illusory copies came into existence at her sides. Without channeling chakra, she made the Bunshin seals again, watching her clones as they mimicked her so that she could see and feel what she was doing at the same time, effectively doubling the strength of her memory. She hadn’t forgotten how to do the seals, or the order, but she noted that her hands felt a bit sluggish; her mind was sharp and her memory clear, but it had been quite a while since she’d done rapid successions of hand seals like she had in the Academy, like she was now. It was a bit of a shock to her but she knew that after a few hours of practice she’d get used to the feeling.
Next, she remembered that she was going to use Henge. She searched her mind for a familiar face to transform into, and the first person she thought of was her sensei from the Academy. “Hm. I’ll practice transforming into a male, and then a female. They are inherently different and now that I think of it, I remember having a bit of difficulty getting rid of the…er…exterior anatomical differences when I was in the academy…” Katsumi blushed, remembering with embarrassment the time she had transformed into her sensei and forgotten to flatten her chest. The reaction from her classmates was less than mature. He had been quite upset. Katsumi chuckled to herself and pushed the memory out of her mind so that she could continue with her training.
She breathed out slowly, feeling a gust of cool air through the crack she’d left open under her window. It refreshed her and centered her in her task, so she brought her hands together and concentrated on her sensei’s face, his attire, his height and weight and basic shape. But what was his hair color? Brown? Blonde? It didn’t really matter, but Katsumi viewed it as a personal challenge. If she couldn’t remember her previous sensei’s hair color, who was to say that a few years from now, if she ever needed to, she’d remember his appearance? Or someone even more vague…The second Hokage, for example? Gosh, now that she thought of it, what did the second Hokage look like? Okay Katsumi…don’t get distracted. Just think… she told herself, giving her mind a mental slap on the wrist. She thought back to one of her most vivid memories. Her entire class standing up. Her, her new headband, her sensei’s words of congrat- Blonde. He was blonde. Katsumi laughed out loud as she connected the two memories to remind her. She completed the transformation and in the mirror she was confident that her transformation was flawless. She cleared her throat and tried a few different tones of voice, using chakra to modify her vocal chords until she had a male voice with a hint of irritation, just like he’d almost always had. A puff of smoke released her technique, and Katsumi shook her hands, a bit sore from holding the seals for such a long time as she tried to remember her academy sensei.
What was next? Ah, yes, Kawarimi. Well, now, how would this work? She didn’t have an automatic shuriken turret and the training grounds were likely to be closed in this weather. She left her room and walked around the house, checking the rooms for her siblings; but everyone was out at the moment. That was alright. Katsumi hated Kawarimi. She’d only barely pulled it off in the academy. It was awful – she felt pressure as an intelligent student to perform well in everything she did, but she had such difficulty moving with the speed and precision required to use Kawarimi successfully. She’d practice it soon enough – until then, she would return to her room and practice other Ninjutsu techniques.
As she walked, she listened to her body, and felt that her chakra still had an ecstatic quality to it. Yes, today was a good day for training, and there was work to be done.
Closing her door behind her, Katsumi stepped into the center of her room.
“Kagami?” Katsumi stretched her arm out, and a dark mist seeped from it and floated a few feet off the ground, slowly moving so that it resembled a shadowy person.
“Kagami, please tell me how this looks. Kakuremino no Jutsu,” she said as she snatched a sheet from her bed and flung it around her skinny frame. There was silence for a moment, and Katsumi focused, making herself still, quiet, and invisible.
“Well done, Katsumi. I can’t see you at all against the floor.”
Katsumi dropped the sheet and cracked her knuckles, flashing a cocky smile. “Of course. I was, after all, one of the best in my class.”
“That’s right, dear. Continue with your training before your head swells up too much and floats away.” Katsumi grinned at Kagami’s justifiable reaction.
"Oh, hey, Kagami...could you help me with something? Throw some stuff at me. I need to practice Kawarimi." The two shared a look that said "Oh, boy." Kagami knew as well as Katsumi did that Kawarimi was tough on her. But Kagami, ever-helpful, moved to Katsumi's side as she went to her desk and withdrew her weapon holster. She infused some of her weapons with her shadow chakra, using Kyuu Hakumei, an original technique. Now that the solid objects had Katsumi’s chakra inside of them, Kagami was able to manipulate them, despite lacking substance. However, the duration of Kyuu Hakumei was somewhat limited, so they had to be quick.
Katsumi nodded, letting Kagami know that she was ready, and then, the shuriken was thrown. She knew that it wouldn’t cause much damage because Kagami lacked much strength. Still, she prepared for pain as she molded a rush of chakra through her legs and feet and stepped to the side, seizing the sheet she’d used earlier and stepping back to the right, dropping the sheet where she’d stood milliseconds before, and then ducked to the side at last. All of this occurred in slow motion to her, as the stream of chakra granted her the temporary agility to carry out such a feat. The world seemed to come back into focus and she heard the dull impact of the shuriken against her sheet. She sighed wearily, feeling particularly drained. She really hated using Kawarimi…she was a Shinobi who focused on chakra control, not speed. It seemed to the Nara that speed was something she shouldn’t have to worry about; after all, the Kage Mane was originally designed as a technique that could slow enemies down. If anything, Katsumi should be slow and proud! But she knew that it wasn’t that simple, and though it had been difficult, she’d given it her all and was happy that she’d used Kawarimi properly.
"What's next?" Kagami asked softly.
“Body flicker! This shouldn’t be too hard.” Katsumi was silent for a moment, relaxing her body and allowing her chakra to flow evenly through her. This pause also gave her a moment to rest. After Kawarimi, which involved less chakra but far more precise movements, a straightforward technique like this wouldn't be much trouble.
She meditated silently, and then jogged in place for a bit, straining her muscles and causing her heart to race. Then, she centered her chakra throughout her body. After a few tries, she was able to distribute a fairly even amount of chakra through out her entire body within a second or two; she’d probably have to be able to do it faster, but this was a good place to start. Molding chakra all over her body, Katsumi’s movement speed was intensified; she moved from one end of the room to the other in a split second. To Kagami, she’d appeared to vanish and reappear almost ten yards away, but in reality, the chakra she’d used had given her body a momentary massive boost in speed. Kagami crossed her dark, mass-less arms over her chest and spoke. “Are you okay?” Across the room, Katsumi had braced herself by putting both hands against the wall. She was breathing heavily.
“Ah…I’m fine…I just forgot that that technique can be quite draining. It requires you to use a lot of chakra, and on top of that, you feel slightly dizzy afterwards…I’m decent with it, though, and my stamina and chakra control get better every day, so I think I’ll try this technique every day for the next week until I can do it in a split second and not get dizzy after.”
Kagami shook the vague shape of her head. "What?" Katsumi asked, curious as to why her best friend would make such a noncommittal gesture.
"It's hard to explain, dear, but...when I listen to you and understand the way you think and the plans you make to improve, it's like you've already met your goals. In your head, you know you'll get there, so even if your stamina isn't yet where you want it...it will be, because you're smart, and determined, and you won't die or quit until you've surpassed your current limit and unlocked an entirely new level of skill. I'm really quite proud of you."
Katsumi was taken back, and felt her eyes sting with the threat of tears. "Why thank you," she said sweetly, emotion quieting her voice. In the past, her ally would have continued to make her feel uncomfortable with compliments, but they'd gotten so close, that Kagami knew how to diffuse this awkward situation.
"Anyway, you haven't eaten yet...or showered...so put your book away and let's take a break."
Katsumi wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and clapped her hands together, excited about the thought of warm food and a cold shower. "That sounds excellent."